Welcome to BASE21

By Lee Wang-jae, Editor in chief
wangjae2@hanmail.net

"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed then to those who were seated, as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. This story is in John chapter 6 of the Bible. If Jesus undertakes a miracle, with five small barley loaves and two small fish,what will the result be? Maybe the police and a prosecutor will arrest a Jesus because he reproduce loaves and fishes illegally.
On January 8th, four domestic record companies indicted 'soribada' (www.soribada.com) under suspicion of reproducing records illegally. Soribada has been providing music files for Netizens who connect on the Internet using P2P( Peer to Peer; it can exchange files from person to person). After two months, the government controlled 'illegal reproduction' of software on a large scale so that all national computer users, including medium and small-sized enterprises and social organizations are suspected of being criminals. During this process, the government disregarded the rules controlling such illegally produced music, so a few social organizations couldn't have any objection and many computer users have felt the inconvenience. As a result, the matter of soribada became a hot dispute between copyright which prefers digital circumstances and cultural contents. Though very inconvenient, why does the government control them illegally? This subject has a connection with 'intellectual property'. Then, Let's see what intellectual property is and what the problems are.

1. What is intellectual property?
Nowadays, we are heard the word intellectual property through an organ of public opinion, but when we define the word intellectual property, we face up to many difficulties because the intellectual property gathers many rights, so if you particularly want it, it is for protecting the creative production of man's intellectual and moral effort through trademark. As intellectual, moral creative production is the creation of a new culture and a mark of trade symbolizing confidence in terms of trade which is immanent in a mark, these represent information of confidence which consumers have about trader and smooth activity in the market. In a word, intellectual property protects valuable and useful information. But intellectual property is different from right concerning a corporeal things, especially the right of ownership because information, which is incorporeal, needs another piece of legislation. And, the fact that a large part of intellectual property is composed of one model of the right of ownership, but intellectual property is quite different from the right of ownership.

2. What is the problem?
A dispute which began which soribada must continue with regard to a dispute on how the intellectual property system will be reformed in digital circumstances. This connects with two questions. One is the concept of reproduction and the other is restricted limits. Copyright revolves around reproduction. For example, if a copyright holder regulates reproduction, reading a book or listening to music doesn't have an influence on the original form that is consumed in a work because of not following the reproduction process. But in digital circumstances, a basic usage of work must follow reproduction necessarily, so a copyright of reproduction could have producted the basic usage of a work. As a result, we should understand that a reproduction is necessary for users that can enjoy a cultural right or approach to information and must not recognize an infringement of copyright which violates the appetite for writing. Also, we should know that a work is not an object of possess which hopes financial compensation, but a document means which is related to the copyright holder and users.

3. Does intellectual property protect the rights of the creator?
In the case of the software industry, technology changes very fast and uncertainly, so to foresee the necessary skills of future is very difficult and software laborers are capable of carrying out disadvantages of time. Therefore, an employer employs new laborers who don't need to waste a long time arranging the existing working force and discharging existing manpower in a prosperous condition and hires new laborers again. Only in this way, software enterprises maintain competitiveness in society. Software enterprises are filling position related to information techniques like purchasing upgraded parts. In this way, most software laborers don't have any freedom to protect their rights(labor conditions, system, etc.) contrary to what we know about it. Such so how, can one enjoy the right to get physical and mental profit from all scientific, literary and artistic creation by oneself?

4. Is the freedom of the creator guaranteed by the strengthening of copyright?
Let's talk about laborers who produce information and knowledge including software again. The most powerful insistence for justifying control of illegal reproduction is that illegal reproduction destroy the incentive to create and threatens information and knowledge relating to the laborer's livelihood
Generally, people who use software most are the very laborers who use software and though a pure user use information and knowledge in computers. Many problems might take place on the way. Problems and demands requisition for laborers who produce information and knowledge through a network, so that they create new knowledge and a pure user takes part in producing activity on a large basis. On producing information and knowledge, a wall collapses between the supplier and the customer. If you accept this connection, the logic that illegal reproduction obstructs the desire to create comes to the strange conclusion that people who use the information most reproduce it illegally so their incentive to create is undermined. This conclusion basically has the attribute that the more information and knowledge used, the more its value increases and develops. A 'Copyleft movement', which insists on sharing information has the central aim of helping people to create and product software freely.

An intellectual property system aims to plan the development of culture, art, and technical expertise. This object provides incentive which helps development. Intellectual property supports the protection of individual benefits secures the public benefit. But recent trends in intellectual property emphasizes private monopoly over public benefit. We must consider whether it is right to hinder a work of creation and for whom it is done because of imitating?.